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January 26, 2026 | Vol. 23, No. 1
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Xóchitl Morales (right) with students after performing at a mutual aid event for farmworkers in Delano, CA, organized by Celebration Nation. Photo by Adam Perez.
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A Living Archive of Mariachi in the Central Valley: The Morales Family
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Reflection by Xóchitl Morales
Living Cultures 2024 Grantee
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To know mariachi is to know some of our story as Mexican immigrants and diaspora babies. For us, mariachi is the vehicle with which our families brought the motherland into our homes.
It soundtracks our life milestones – quinceañeras, weddings, and funerals – and holds the stories that define our community.
For the Morales family, mariachi is also a 30-year lineage of community-building in the Central Valley. After performing with world-renowned mariachi ensembles, my father,
Juan
Morales, dedicated himself to teaching. Since the late 90s, he has mentored over 1,000 young people through public schools and our family studio, The Mariachi Studio,
founded alongside my mother. Today, I teach the children of some of my father’s first students. We steward this tradition as a living cycle; as I pass down the songs my father taught me, my students are already learning to lead the next generation.
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ACTA is hiring a Program Manager in Fresno!
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ACTA is hiring a full-time Program Manager based in Fresno, CA.
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Hybrid: Based in Fresno
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Pay Range: $71,500 to $85,000/year
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Position open until filled
The Fresno Program Manager will anchor ACTA’s newly expanded programming and field presence in Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley. This position plays a key role in ACTA’s place-based
strategy to strengthen cultural infrastructure in under-resourced communities and expand public access to the traditional arts.
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The Traditional Arts Roundtable Series (TARS) is a statewide program series produced by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts. TARS is generously supported by the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Join us for TARS in Sonoma County!
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At a moment when many communities are facing heightened uncertainty and strain, culture bearers gather to share how traditional practices continue to offer grounding and support collective strength. Our upcoming
Traditional
Arts Roundtable Series (TARS) event on February 15 centers cultural knowledge as a source of survival, sustainability, resistance, and resilience, creating a space for the local community to
reflect on the role of tradition in challenging times.
In partnership with Latinos
Unidos del Condado de Sonoma, we’ll hear from Ezekiel Guzman and Yolanda Giron about their Jardines del Pueblo projects and Ballet Folklorico Yolotl. The conversation will also include traditional
Pomo song keepers Bernadette
Smith and Precious Thomas, alongside Cambodian classical dancer
Charya
Burt.
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Acompáñanos en Sonoma para nuestra más reciente Mesa Redonda de Artes Tradicionales!
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En un momento en que muchas comunidades atraviesan incertidumbre y presión, portadores de cultura se reúnen para reflexionar sobre cómo las prácticas culturales y tradicionales continúan ofreciendo arraigo
y fortaleciendo el tejido colectivo. Esta próxima edición de la Serie
de Mesas Redondas Sobre Artes Tradicionales (TARS) el 15 de febrero sitúa el conocimiento cultural como una fuente de sobrevivencia, sostenibilidad, resistencia y resiliencia, creando un espacio
para que la comunidad local dialogue sobre el papel de la tradición en estos tiempos complejos.
En colaboración con Latinos
Unidos del Condado de Sonoma, escucharemos a Ezekiel Guzmán y Yolanda Girón hablar sobre sus proyectos, Jardines del Pueblo y el Ballet Folklórico Yolotl. La conversación también incluirá a
las guardianas de las canciones tradicionales Pomo, Bernadette
Smith y Precious Thomas, así como la bailarina clásica camboyana
Charya
Burt.
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La Serie de Mesas Redondas sobre Artes Tradicionales (TARS, por sus siglas en inglés) es un programa estatal producido por la Alianza para las Artes Tradicionales
en California. TARS cuenta con el generoso apoyo de la Fundación William y Flora Hewlett, el Consejo de las Artes de California y la Fundación Nacional para las Artes.
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Ritual Azteca Señor de los Milagros performing at Living Roots Festival on October 19, 2025. Photo: Oscar Vargas/ACTA
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Living Roots: Mapping the Heartbeat of the Antelope Valley
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Reflection by Arleth Castañeda
Purépecha Woman, Storyteller & Cultural Treasures Project Advisory Team
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It was a beautiful fall day in our desert community.
If you are from here, you know how the Antelope Valley can be—sometimes the wind wants to be the loudest voice in the room—but that day, the wind stayed at bay. The Divine Sun came
out to celebrate us, beaming down a golden light on a gathering we called
Living
Roots: Putting the Antelope Valley's Culture on the Map! As a Purépecha woman, I see these gatherings not just as events, but as a re-weaving of sorts that have
been here long before us. Hosted at the Legacy Commons in Palmdale, California, the space allowed us to be together as it has always been intended for the community to be. This wasn’t just a festival; it was a safe space cultivated by the Alliance for California
Traditional Arts to show the world—and ourselves—that our culture isn't a resource to be mined, but a living root that feeds us all.
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Jenn at Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden (Il Giardino del Tarocchi) in Capalbio, Italy. Photo: Chris Merchant.
After almost 9 years with ACTA, Jennifer Joy Jameson Merchant, ACTA’s Associate Program Director + Media Director, an LA-based public folklorist, is embarking on new adventures.
While we will miss her presence at ACTA, we are excited to see what the future holds for her.
Jenn first came to ACTA in March 2017 as New Media Program Manager to work with Executive Director Amy Kitchener in developing ACTA’s first full-scale communications program, including
an overhaul of our digital presence. Later that year, Jenn was promoted to Program Manager + Media Director, stewarding
ACTA’s
Apprenticeship Program for over 6 years. She has also been involved in producing meaningful spaces of connection and learning via our statewide
Traditional
Arts Roundtable Series (TARS), as well as providing technical assistance for the California Arts Council’s Cultural Pathways cohorts, and other special partnerships,
including the National Folklife Network and the Folk Arts Peer Group for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-developed
Shelter
Together, which received a nod in a
New
York Times article highlighting Western Mono basket weaver Carly Tex’s episode on acorn processing.
In 2023, Jenn was promoted to Associate Program Director + Media Director, joining the program team for the
Taproot
Artists & Community Trust to support the development and launch of ACTA’s new national fellow program. With an expanded media team, Jenn stewarded the production
of several ACTA project sites and digital storytelling efforts, including the
Sounds
of California digital archive, the
California
Traditional Artists Plaza, the
Taproot
Fellowship microsite, and
Celebrating
Over 25 Years of ACTA. Over the years, Jenn has trained and mentored nine talented staff and interns, cultivating their growth and leadership. We are very thankful
for Jenn’s collaborative spirit, care, vision, and creativity, which have been brought to bear through her wide-ranging contributions at ACTA, and wish her well in her next chapter!
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Mariachi Educator Job Opening
📍Fairfax County, Virginia (serving the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Region)
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is seeking a motivated, energetic educator with deep knowledge of mariachi performance to help build a long-term mariachi education program from the ground up and establish
it as a part of the division’s instructional offerings. This is a full-time, year-round teaching position. The combined starting salary is about $83,000, aligned with the pay scale for a band director, with an additional relocation allowance of up to $2,000
available. For more information, please contact Amos Simms-Smith.
☎️ Phone number: 571-474-7203
📧 Email: AOSimm...@fcps.ed
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Arts Avenue is hiring Community Teaching Artists
📍San Bernardino
The Arts Avenue Community Teaching Artist will be responsible for teaching after school arts classes to students, focusing on building confidence, art techniques and critical thinking to create meaningful works. This role
involves implementing lesson plans that align with VAPA curriculum standards and cater to students' diverse skill levels.
Click
here to learn more and apply.
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Terra Foundation Convening Grants
This grant program supports programs that stimulate interdisciplinary and intercultural exchange through conferences, workshops, and gatherings worldwide. Convening grant support is available for programs that advance innovative
research and professional practice in American art and address critical issues that may deepen and expand the stories and voices within the field. Convening grants typically range between $10,000 and $25,000. For programs taking place after November 1, 2026,
inquiries are due February 16, 2026. Click
here to learn more and apply.
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Crafting the Future’s Micro and Macro Grants
Crafting the Future has just opened up two grant programs. Artist Micro Grants are $500 unrestricted grants to support BIPOC visual artists in covering artistic and living expenses as they pursue careers in the arts. Their
Special Project Macro Grants fund new and pre-existing projects, which support artists of color to access opportunities for art education, career expansion, networking, and personal development. For both programs, they are prioritizing projects based in visual
arts including materials-based craft and folk/traditional arts. Applications are due February 15.
Click
here to learn more and apply.
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The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) promotes and supports ways for cultural traditions to thrive now and into the future by providing advocacy, resources,
and connections for folk and traditional artists and their communities. The New Moon
is our monthly newsletter. View past issues here.
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Alliance for California Traditional Arts
actaonline.org
Copyright (C) 2026 Alliance for California Traditional Arts. All rights reserved.
We are sending this to all those who have registered for ACTA related events to stay informed!
Our mailing address is:
Alliance for California Traditional Arts 744 P St Ste 307 Fresno, CA 93721-2713 USA
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